One of Hawaiʻi’s leading and longest-serving nonprofit leaders has announced her retirement. She’s not leaving immediately, but right now she’s preparing the social services organization for the transition.
Nanci Kreidman, CEO of the Domestic Violence Action Center, has announced she will retire in the summer of 2023. She says the long lead time is to help the organization search for a replacement and prepare for its first major change in leadership since she co-founded the organization 33 years ago.
In 1990, she established what was known then as the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline. The organization started out with just two part-time staff and offered a helpline for people to call in anonymously, as well as support groups and legal representation.
It rebranded as the Domestic Violence Action Center in 2008 and has continued to grow to where it now has a staff of about 50. Services have expanded to include various community-based programs reaching out to families in Hawaiʻi’s immigrant, ethnic and LGBTQ+ communities.
DVAC’s budget of nearly $4.3 million, as of 2021, comes primarily from the state, federal and City and County resources, as well as foundations, grants and community support. The DVAC Executive Transition Committee will announce its succession plan and the search for a new CEO, expected to begin in January of 2023.
In an interview with PBN, Kreidman described this as her life’s work, adding, “I’m not a victim of violence myself, but what I do have are convictions about the rights that are imperative for families, women, and children to live free and safe. What I’ve had, I want others to experience, too.”